University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Top Moments - Fine Becomes Passing Leader
7/2/2019 4:44:00 PM | Football
DENTON - As fall camp approaches, with players reporting on August 1, MeanGreenSports.com takes a look back at some of the biggest moments from the 2018 season. Stay tuned each Tuesday as MeanGreenSports.com relives each of these key moments from the nine-win season last year. We continue our series with quarterback Mason Fine's touchdown pass at Old Dominion that made him the program's all-time leading passer.
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Entering Week 11 at Old Dominion, it wasn't a matter of if, but when Fine would surpass Mitch Maher (1991-94) and become the all-time leading passer at North Texas. It took just 4:13 after kickoff, when Fine connected with Rico Bussey, Jr. on a 23-yard touchdown strike to give the Oklahoma native the record.
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It was fitting for Fine to break it on a touchdown pass, and the score in the first quarter put the Mean Green on top 7-0. Fine would go on to complete 26-of-44 passes for 240 yards and a pair of scores, but UNT fell 34-31 after leading 28-0 in the first half.
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How it Happened:
North Texas opened the game with by forcing a turnover on the second play from scrimmage when cornerback Kemon Hall picked off ODU's Blake LaRussa. The Mean Green opened the drive at their own 44.
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Fine completed a pair of passes for 14 yards, setting himself up to break the quarter-century old mark previously held by Maher.
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The Oklahoma native threw from a clean pocket as Bussey utilized his leverage on the safety to create separation on his corner route. Fine, as he typically does, put the throw right on the money. Bussey hauled in the record-breaking pass by getting his feet in bounds in the end zone and helped the Mean Green jump out to a very early lead.
Fine has reset how UNT passers will be measured. In Fine, North Texas has finally surpassed Steve Ramsey's (1967-69) yards-per-game benchmark. Fine is averaging a program-best 254.5Â passing yards per game, His numbers not only put him atop the UNT QB pyramid, it puts Fine among the elite quarterbacks nationally.
And it's been 50 years since North Texas could say that.
What They Said:
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QB Mason Fine – "I had heard from other people that I was close to breaking the record earlier in the week and would probably break it some time that game. Once the game started, I didn't keep up with it or anything. I didn't know I broke it until I got to the sideline after the touchdown and people were congratulating me on it. After smiling and saying thank you, I made sure to say I couldn't have done it without everyone involved in this football program the last three years, especially my teammates and coaches. I continued to focus on my main task at hand, which was the game and doing my job.
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"Going back to the play specifically, it was just a squeeze formation and smash concept. The defense played two high and I knew that if the safety played inside of Rico, I would have pretty good leverage. As I caught the ball, I went through my reads. I saw that the safety played a little too far inside and Rico ran a great corner route. We were just on the same page on what angle he was going to take out of his break and we connected for the touchdown."
Head Coach Seth Littrell (following the game) – "Mason is a great teammate, a great player and is very deserving of that and I know later on down the road it'll be a big accomplishment for him. I'm very happy for him, but I know after the season he'll be able to look back and be able to enjoy it a little bit more than now."
RB DeAndre Torrey (following the game) – "Mason is the biggest part of our offense by far. That's a great milestone for him. Mason allows the run game to open up just because the defense knows what he can do in the pass game, so that helps our entire offense."
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Entering Week 11 at Old Dominion, it wasn't a matter of if, but when Fine would surpass Mitch Maher (1991-94) and become the all-time leading passer at North Texas. It took just 4:13 after kickoff, when Fine connected with Rico Bussey, Jr. on a 23-yard touchdown strike to give the Oklahoma native the record.
Â
It was fitting for Fine to break it on a touchdown pass, and the score in the first quarter put the Mean Green on top 7-0. Fine would go on to complete 26-of-44 passes for 240 yards and a pair of scores, but UNT fell 34-31 after leading 28-0 in the first half.
Â
How it Happened:
North Texas opened the game with by forcing a turnover on the second play from scrimmage when cornerback Kemon Hall picked off ODU's Blake LaRussa. The Mean Green opened the drive at their own 44.
Â
Fine completed a pair of passes for 14 yards, setting himself up to break the quarter-century old mark previously held by Maher.
Â
The Oklahoma native threw from a clean pocket as Bussey utilized his leverage on the safety to create separation on his corner route. Fine, as he typically does, put the throw right on the money. Bussey hauled in the record-breaking pass by getting his feet in bounds in the end zone and helped the Mean Green jump out to a very early lead.
Fine has reset how UNT passers will be measured. In Fine, North Texas has finally surpassed Steve Ramsey's (1967-69) yards-per-game benchmark. Fine is averaging a program-best 254.5Â passing yards per game, His numbers not only put him atop the UNT QB pyramid, it puts Fine among the elite quarterbacks nationally.
And it's been 50 years since North Texas could say that.
What They Said:
Â
QB Mason Fine – "I had heard from other people that I was close to breaking the record earlier in the week and would probably break it some time that game. Once the game started, I didn't keep up with it or anything. I didn't know I broke it until I got to the sideline after the touchdown and people were congratulating me on it. After smiling and saying thank you, I made sure to say I couldn't have done it without everyone involved in this football program the last three years, especially my teammates and coaches. I continued to focus on my main task at hand, which was the game and doing my job.
Â
"Going back to the play specifically, it was just a squeeze formation and smash concept. The defense played two high and I knew that if the safety played inside of Rico, I would have pretty good leverage. As I caught the ball, I went through my reads. I saw that the safety played a little too far inside and Rico ran a great corner route. We were just on the same page on what angle he was going to take out of his break and we connected for the touchdown."
Head Coach Seth Littrell (following the game) – "Mason is a great teammate, a great player and is very deserving of that and I know later on down the road it'll be a big accomplishment for him. I'm very happy for him, but I know after the season he'll be able to look back and be able to enjoy it a little bit more than now."
RB DeAndre Torrey (following the game) – "Mason is the biggest part of our offense by far. That's a great milestone for him. Mason allows the run game to open up just because the defense knows what he can do in the pass game, so that helps our entire offense."
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Players Mentioned
Saturday, April 18
Wednesday, April 15
Wednesday, April 08
Wednesday, April 01